We’ve been talking about flying cars for a while now. Even got to try one out at CES 2019 but no flying car made its appearance either on the streets or up in the air so far. That’s about to change in five years from now, says one American company as their VTOL, ASKA, will jumpstart this new trend in transportation.
ASKA (or flying bird in Japanese) is a sexy-looking, futuristic vehicle capable of hitting the streets just as well as staying up in the air. Thanks to a large set of wings and propellers, ASKA can take off wherever there’s a place for it.
It has a flight range of up to 250 miles, all powered by electric motors with a six-pack of batteries making sure the flight takes place safely from start to finish. There’s also a redundant safety system in place – a range extender that can support any kind of energy source available, including hydrogen. Now that’s what I’m talking about!
The American company behind the project, NFT (Next Future Mobility) says the vehicle is already available for preorder. That hopefully means their optimistic timeline – getting it out and about by 2026 – will hold and we’ll finally have the means to travel like in the movies 😉
If all goes to plan, ASKA will be the world’s first, drive and fly vehicle with vertical takeoff and short takeoff available. It could be boarded in a parking lot, at home or on the street, flown to the desired destination, and parked just as easily. It could also transition from flight to drive mode depending on the traffic encountered or on the route preset.
“We anticipate that flying cars that are accessible to the general public will be as instrumental in re-defining how and where we live, as the original automobile was to the foundation of our country’s highway and road systems.”
Guy Kaplinsky, co-founder & CEO, NFT, inc.
The first 1,500 customers to pre-order the vehicle got one share of the company entered the Founder’s Club, after seing it up close at the end of April when the company opened the doors of their first flying car showroom. If you’re wondering, a $5000 deposit is needed to place a preorder as the starting price of an ASKA vehicle is $789,000 (pilot training included).
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